Energy Recovery Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:ERII)

Energy Recovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERII) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 10,010 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 2,870% compared to the average daily volume of 337 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ERII has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Freedom Capital lowered shares of Energy Recovery from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Energy Recovery from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Energy Recovery from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Energy Recovery from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective on shares of Energy Recovery in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.00.

Energy Recovery Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ERII opened at $8.33 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $429.33 million, a PE ratio of 21.92 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $9.57 and a 200 day moving average of $12.09. Energy Recovery has a one year low of $7.83 and a one year high of $18.32.

Energy Recovery (NASDAQ:ERII) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $9.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.37 million. Energy Recovery had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 15.07%. On average, equities analysts predict that Energy Recovery will post -0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Energy Recovery

In related news, Director Pamela L. Tondreau acquired 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.34 per share, with a total value of $166,800.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 37,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,599.08. This trade represents a 115.19% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arve Hanstveit sold 165,292 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.14, for a total transaction of $1,676,060.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 384,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,903,169.92. The trade was a 30.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Energy Recovery

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Energy Recovery by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 58,768 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $592,000 after acquiring an additional 5,428 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in Energy Recovery by 31.2% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,740,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,648,000 after acquiring an additional 888,618 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Energy Recovery by 54.7% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 67,429 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $679,000 after acquiring an additional 23,838 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Energy Recovery by 40.1% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 144,265 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,453,000 after acquiring an additional 41,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Energy Recovery by 47.7% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 514,102 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,177,000 after acquiring an additional 165,915 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.58% of the company’s stock.

About Energy Recovery

Energy Recovery, Inc (NASDAQ: ERII) is an energy technology company specializing in the design and manufacture of high-efficiency devices that capture and repurpose energy in fluid-handling applications. The company’s core offering, the Pressure Exchanger® (PX®) device, enables seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plants to recover and reuse hydraulic energy that would otherwise be lost during brine discharge. By integrating PX technology into desalination processes, Energy Recovery helps operators significantly reduce the energy consumption and operating costs of producing fresh water from seawater or brackish sources.

In addition to desalination solutions, Energy Recovery has expanded its portfolio to serve the oil and gas sector through turbocharger systems that improve the energy efficiency of hydraulic fracturing operations.